Rating: 
Summary: Too kludgy, too many bugs, too complex...
Review: #1) The user interface is okay, but not intuitive. I am a technical writer, web designer and software support specialist, and it took me a while to figure out how things were organized. Right or wrong, I expected something of a Windows format, i.e. the FILE menu lists functions specific to filing, the EDIT menu lists things like copy and paste, etc... I'm not a big fan of the Microsoft Monopoly, but I have to tell you that most people expect things to look like Windows these days. #2) The shopping list function does not reliably pull every ingredient from a recipe, and the entire "have it" column will clear whenever you try to modify an ingredient. This was particularly frustrating to me when I was working on a weekly menu list and had a huge number of things checked! The software does not give you a "modify" button or something similar when you've checked all of your "have it" items, so that the only way you can look at just the things you need to buy is by printing out the list, which is a huge waste of paper if you have to make changes. When I tried to print a week's shopping list, the list came out in 12-point font which took up three pages (way too big! it's got to fit in a regular pocket or handbag, remember), and listed the items in a very confusing, hard-to-read format, with the section title (example: fresh produce) on the left, followed immediately underneath by the ingredient, and then to the far right is the actual item to be purchased. There's no line to guide the eye, and the formatting was rather clumsy so that you have to stop and stare at the list to figure out what you're going to buy, not to mention the fact that it seems silly to list the ingredient twice (i.e. "celery, 1/2 cup" and then to the right, "celery, one package"). #3) Entering or modifying foods is way too complex and extremely undwieldy. I wanted to go through the lists and take out the brand-specific names because I bargain hunt and don't buy any one particular brand. I found the brand names annoying, especially since they pertain largely to mid-west grocery chains that don't exist in California. I have so far found no way to list all the items; one has to search for them individually, and frankly, that's way too much effort just so the software can do what I want it to do. #4) The recipes are all submitted by different people, and no one has taken the time to standardize them. I'm looking at one now - "Toad-in-a-hole" - in which the author tells me what kitchen utensils I'll need, and then tells me how to grease a pan and scrape the sides of a blender. I'm pretty sure I can figure out that I want to use a skillet all on my own, and I've been greasing pans for quite a few years now. It seems a bit unprofessional. Another recipe that I came across recently (sorry, I don't remember which one) left out a major step in the preparation of some chicken dish. I've found typos and incorrectly listed ingredients and other problems, and of course there are quite a few bugs in the interface between the recipe bookshelf and the meals section and the weekly planning section. I don't like that I can't copy a recipe straight into a book, but can only copy a chapter, even if I hate every other recipe in that chapter. I hate that the recipes seem to go out of their way to add fat and calories (fry in one cup of oil, mix in one cup of mayonnaise..... eyewwwww) and that there's no healthy section that I can find. I don't like how the recipe book shelf is organized, in that I find it overwhelming to choose a recipe from the list of books that don't seem to be organized in any particular fashion. I don't like how hard it is to populate the weekly menu with my own choices, instead of choosing their ready-made weekly plans. I don't like that when I click on a recipe in the weekly menu, I get the meal card and not the actual recipe, and I have to go to "edit" on the meal card and click on the name of the recipe there in order to get to the recipe. The software is full end-to-end with problems of this nature, and they, unfortunately, make it very clumsy and hard to use.
#5) The software has a lot of bugs. When I first installed it, the install didn't work right and a database was corrupted, which required I reinstall the software. Every fourth or fifth time I open it, I get some error message that I'm usually able to work through. If I try to open it after a copy is already open on my desk, the software isn't smart enough to tell me that a copy is already open, but instead gives me code error messages. It just felt like DVO wanted to save some money, so they cut out the focus groups who might have given some really necessary feedback, and they employed really young and inexperienced programmers...
Rating:
Summary: Fatal error day 2
Review: After spending a couple hours entering my own recipes, I received a fatal error and have not been able to open the program again. I don't plan to continue using this software and I wouldn't recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrific!!
Review: Cook'n Deluxe is GREAT! My sister and I both got one. Now we exchange recipes via e-mail. It's a lot of fun. It sure beats writing them down on paper--I could never keep track of them. The video clips are kind of weak...but I didn't really get it for that anyway. I just wanted something to organize my own recipes and Cook'n is terrific for this. We love it!!
Rating:
Summary: What's the recipe for fatal error?
Review: Could not install this software on ANY of my computers. I will not buy anything related to the company EVER!!!!!!! I only rated this 1 star because I had to.
Rating:
Summary: Cook'n Is Fun
Review: I am disabled and have used this software for about 60 days. My daughter is getting married and I wanted to create something she wanted that was substantial [not money]. She has built an expensive home and there is not much to give. She always wanted a copy of the family cookbook. My aunt had the original and it was held together with rubberbands and a plastic newspaper bag.
When I saw this I thought WOW, I can't give her any greater a gift than that of my time and our ancesters.
I have input over 4,000 recipes. I have played with the software, broken it, fixed it, lost a hard drive, recovered the files. The program is easy to learn, use, copy, e-mail and print [that was tricky!].
Now the problem is finding a box large enough to hold all the recipes.
I have been disappointed with the support. Downloading from other sites is foggy and DVO is not quick to reply. They say 'Go to the Web Site' but once there there is no help. They have to work on that, but the program is FUN!!!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Too many problems!
Review: I bought an older version of this software and had a lot of problems with it. It kept giving me different error messages and just shutting down. So a couple of years later I bought this upgraded version hoping DVO had worked out the bugs. NO!! It still gave me a fatal error message and froze up. So now I'm stuck with 2 versions of the same program, and it doesn't even work. Don't waste your money on this product like I did.
Rating:
Summary: My mom loves it
Review: I bought this program for my mom for Mother's Day. Since then she has printed tons of her own recipes on dvo's recipe cards and handed them out to all her friends. Now I just have to figure out where to put all these recipes. She loves it though so I rate it with 5 stars for a great gift for mothers!
Rating: 
Summary: Not what it's cooked up to be
Review: I found this software very user unfriendly, difficult to naviagate and very time-consuming to attempt to utilize. The window for recipe addition is easy to use but that is the only thing easy to use. There are better choices out there.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Software and Customer Support
Review: I have a very old version of this software that I must have bought 4 years ago. Yes I have had problems that are listed in some of the other reviews. BUT everytime I have emailed Tech Support with a problem I have had a resolution to my problem in 1 day or less. These emails have all been signed by Dan Oaks, owner of the company. I have never had such great tech support on any other product four years after purchasing it. My version is as current as the new ones, because they keep updating the software and allowing downloads. True there are somethings that could make it better, but thats the same with any product. All of the other cookbook software I have tried is way worse then this. DVO is a small company and I think they do an excellent job with this software. How many problems does one have with Microsoft products! To call support for them it is $295 an hour!!
Rating:
Summary: Bye bye recipe books...hello Cook'n!
Review: I never thought I'd give up my cookbooks until I saw Cook'n at my neighbor's house. Old habits die hard I guess. I finally gave in and got my own. I'm so glad I did! It's much easier than I thought it would be. I never thought I'd say this but it is way better than my cookbooks. It scales recipes automatically, makes a menu and a shopping list, and manages all of my recipes in one file. I can send recipes to a Palm Pilot, e-mail recipes to friends, print recipes on 3x5 cards...It's AWESOME! There's no going back now! I highly recommend it.
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